EDWARDSVILLE – Andrew Yancik was called on Wednesday night to pitch for Edwardsville American Legion Post 199 in a big game.
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Yancik delivered for Edwardsville, and did so in a huge way.
Yancik struck out 13 – 10 of them on called third strikes – as he hooked up with Alton’s Wesley Laaker in an old-school pitcher’s duel at Hoppe Park.
Laaker himself fanned seven as both pitchers found ways to keep the game scoreless through eight-and-a-half innings before Edwardsville got the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to gain a 1-0 win over Alton in an Illinois Legion District 22 playoff game.
The win sent Edwardsville to the championship round Friday evening at Hoppe Park; Alton will meet Highland at 5:30 p.m. tonight at Alton High’s Redbird Field in an elimination game, the winner meeting Post 199 for the District 22 title and a spot in next week’s Illinois Fifth Division Tournament in Aviston.
“In my career pitching, I don’t know if I’ve had a duel like that,” Yancik said. “He (Laaker) had us off-balance all game and we were lucky to get past him and into their bullpen; give credit to him, he put on a good show – we both did.
“It’s definitely an exciting game whenever there’s a battle like that on the mound.”
Yancik’s fastball was the pitch he relied on throughout the night. “My fastball was definitely my overpowering pitch tonight,” he said. “They weren’t really connecting with that; they were mainly hitting my breaking pitches whenever I was throwing them – using the fastball in counts where you wouldn't normally throw a fastball, I guess, was keeping them off-balance.”
Yancik found his way out of a huge jam in the top of the ninth; it started when Elijah Dannenbrink hit a double down the line in left and went to third when he was sacrificed over by Adam Stilts. “They hadn’t had a guy on third base the whole game, and as soon as that happened, I said ‘I gotta really lock in even more than I have been’,” Yancik said. “I had to dig deeper down inside me and bring everything out that I could and stop them from scoring that run.
“Luckily, everything went our way there.”
Yancik’s 13 strikeouts was a very powerful performance. “I was just sticking with my main pitch, the fastball and throwing off a few breaking pitches here and there,” Yancik said. “That fastball really helped me with the strikeout number today.”
Winning a game like Wednesday’s – known as the “money game” in a double-elimination tournament – was very important for Edwardsville. “I remember last year, I think, we were in the last day of a tournament and we lost that one game and had to play another one right after that,” Yancik said. “It was kind of difficult to come back and play two that day when you know you should be on top, but this year – winning this right away – undefeated in this round – is a huge confidence boost going into the next few games.
“These last two games (including Post 199’s walk-off win over Valmeyer Tuesday) have been so exciting and it’s going to be like that the next however many weeks we play in this thing; all these guys are going to bring great at-bats and pitching performances. It’s going to be really fun to watch.”
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Feeney, 56, is a native of Granite City and graduated from Granite City South in 1978. He was a part-time writer for the old Granite City Journal from 1979-84 before attending Eastern Illinois University in Charleston,
from which he earned his BA in journalism in 1988. He has worked for newspapers in Sikeston, Mo., Rocky Mount, N.C., Seneca, S.C. and in Charleston-Mattoon. He also worked for the old St. Clair County Suburban
Journals.
